Highland LakesAL
A town of 5,866.
What should you know before moving to Highland Lakes?
Highland Lakes's standout: the median household earns $169K. Overall it grades A−, ranked 18th of 187 in Alabama. Residents are healthier than 92% of U.S. towns on CDC estimates and its schools rank ahead of 83% of Alabama towns. 74% of adults 25 and older hold a bachelor’s degree or more in Highland Lakes, above both the Alabama town median (23%) and the median of U.S. towns (29%). Only 14 of Alabama’s 308 towns score lower on cost of living. Most errands need a car: it is less walkable than 88% of U.S. towns.
What makes Highland Lakes stand out
Where Highland Lakes beats most towns.
Highland Lakes has grown 33% from 2010 to 2020
3,926 counted in 2010 and 5,239 in 2020.
U.S. Census 2010 & 2020 counts
How Highland Lakes grades
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Alabama), ordered by how far Highland Lakes is from typical.
Its grades run from A+ for jobs and income (better than 97% of comparable towns) to D for walkability (better than 12%), so the A− overall blends very different results.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Legion Field and 20 more within 40 miles
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Highland Lakes. Close and well known come first.
14 mi Stadium & arenaLegion Field
13 mi Stadium & arenaProtective Stadium
12 mi MuseumSloss Furnaces
13 mi Stadium & arenaLegacy Arena
13 mi Stadium & arenaBirmingham–Jefferson Convention Complex
13 mi MuseumBirmingham Museum of ArtPhoto credits
Legion Field: USGS, Public domain · Protective Stadium: Unknown, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Sloss Furnaces: DXR, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Legacy Arena: AuburnShuffle, CC0 · Birmingham–Jefferson Convention Complex: Chris Pruitt, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Birmingham Museum of Art: Birmingham Museum of Art, CC BY 3.0
Moving to Highland Lakes: who provides what
Highland Lakes is unincorporated, so Shelby County and regional agencies provide most services.
EPA SDWIS (Oct 9, 2026) · HIFLD + EIA-861 2025 · Census 2020 ZCTAs · NCES 2024–25 · registration: vote.gov, updated Nov 18, 2024.
The data
Ordered by what stands out in Highland Lakes.
Highland Lakes has less food insecurity than most of Alabama and sends most of its workers to Birmingham and beyond, but it has homes that cost more against local pay than most of Alabama.
Highland Lakes stands out in Alabama and nationally: a smaller share of its adults feel lonely
Its widest gap with Alabama is food insecurity: 7.3% of its 4,052 adults worry about having enough food, against 19.2% statewide. Against the 1,709 U.S. towns with household incomes like Highland Lakes’s, it is less healthy than 57%: its national edge comes with its incomes.
27% of adults feel lonely in Highland Lakes. Only 2 of the 187 Alabama towns we compare have a lower share of adults who report frequent mental distress than Highland Lakes. 11% of adults report frequent physical distress in Highland Lakes.
| Highland Lakes | Alabama towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Feel lonely (CDC PLACES) | 27% | 36% | 33% |
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 12% | 18% | 17% |
| Get no exercise (CDC PLACES) | 17% | 30% | 25% |
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 8.6% | 16% | 14% |
| What stands out | Highland Lakes | AL |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults facing food insecurity | 7.3% | 19.2% |
| Fewer adults facing housing insecurity | 5.9% | 13.9% |
| More adults who have had cancer | 10.7% | 8.2% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Compared with most of Alabama and the rest of the country, the median household income in Highland Lakes is higher
Highland Lakes has 396 jobs for its 1,807 working residents: even if every job went to a resident, most would still commute out. 22.9% of workers work from home, against 8.8% across Alabama.
4.1% of Highland Lakes residents live below the poverty line. Among 186 Alabama towns, just 1 have a higher median household income than Highland Lakes. Highland Lakes’ average trip to work is 30 minutes.
| Highland Lakes | Alabama towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median household income | $169,000 | $62,000 | $80,000 |
| Below the poverty line | 4.1% | 16% | 9.6% |
| Average trip to work | 30 minutes | 25 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Working residents who work in town | 1.1% | 10% | 8% |
Where working residents work
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Highland Lakes has mild winters and hot summers
Highland Lakes has mild winters and warm summers, with plenty of rain. The July high in Highland Lakes is 90°F.
Typical low → high °F
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Highland Lakes faces a moderate natural-hazard risk, led by inland flooding
Expected storm and flood damage is higher than in 51% of U.S. communities. Since 1995, 8 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Highland Lakes.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Homes in Highland Lakes sell for about $833K
At 8.4 years of the Birmingham metro’s $71K median household income, the typical home costs more against local pay than in 98% of Alabama towns; that ratio is one input to its C for cost of living. The median property tax bill is $2,258, against $788 across Alabama, another input to its cost-of-living grade.
The median sale price was $833,000 in May 2026.
Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Everything we know about Highland Lakes
Colleges nearby
5 within 15 miles of the center of Highland Lakes
About 6 of every 100 Highland Lakes residents are enrolled in college, about the same as Alabama.
99% of working residents leave Highland Lakes for work
Where Highland Lakes’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
About Highland Lakes
Census-designated place in Alabama, United States
Highland Lakes is a census-designated place in Shelby County, Alabama, United States. As of the 2020 census, Highland Lakes had a population of 5,239.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
- Area
- 3.9 sq mi
- Elevation
- 810 ft
- Area code
- 205
Highland Lakes’s neighbors
3 towns share a border with Highland Lakes.
| Town | AL rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Highland Lakes | #18 | A− | C | — | A− | A |
| Chelsea | #12 | A | B− | — | A− | A |
| Hoover | #19 | A− | C− | B | A+ | A |
| Shoal Creek | — | — | C | — | A− | A |
Shoal Creek has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade. Highland Lakes, Chelsea and Shoal Creek report no FBI crime data of their own. Compare Highland Lakes with a neighbor →
Questions about Highland Lakes
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Is Highland Lakes, AL a good place to live?
By most measures, yes. Highland Lakes grades A− overall, better than 82% of U.S. towns and #18 of 187 in Alabama. It grades A for health and A− for schools. Walkability is its weak spot, with a D.
Is Highland Lakes, AL expensive?
The typical home is worth about $599,000, 151% above the Alabama typical home. Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades C.